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Daily Archives: January 1, 2019

For a New Year’s declaration on the Facebook page for this website, I vowed to spend the rest of my life continuing to #FirstDoNoHarm. It is not a new thing, but a continuing thing. It was really a declaration in hopes of influencing the thinking of others to do the same; planting seeds you know.

A stretch of the daily trek

In my mind, and not out loud, I vowed to not let things keep me from going on my daily walk. For the most part, I have been rather diligent; but through Christmas I let myself go for almost a whole week on the days when a friend wanted to shop or just go sit for a spell to talk or it seemed too cold or too late or I was involved in something else… any excuse would do. It’s very easy to get out of a good habit with that kind of thinking. It’s perfectly okay to take time for friends, as valuable health-wise as walking, but it is important to get back to it as quickly as possible. So far, I am two for two since making the mental declaration. I’m off to a good start.

I did edit the ‘Our Story‘ of the Facebook page to include “Vegan Gardening” ahead of the rest of the story because it has become first and foremost in all of my gardening considerations. I think when I started the page, I was still under the misconception that external inputs might have a value. For me, it turns out that I no longer want to include them, especially if they are animal derived; definitely if they are animal derived. For one thing there are just too many problems with them. I won’t go into it now. Suffice it to say, ‘contamination’ in one way or another is a big part of the equation. But it’s enough that most often they require harm.

I will forage for some mesquite chaff in open areas possibly. Even that is disturbing habitat where it can be found in the wild. It would be best gotten from someone who is intent on an immaculate yard but then they usually spray herbicides/pesticides.

Best to just try to grow my own necessary resources the best I am able I have decided. A big challenge for me currently is finding enough carbon matter for humanure/compoosting. Since deciding to leave the leaves, that resource is scarce. I might need to take someone’s advice to dig a trench for it since our water table is so low.

I noticed that a lot of postings for the New Year seemed to have a common thread; replacing fear with love or just getting rid of fear period, especially ‘what-if’ fears. It seems that most of us are coming to realize that we are being manipulated to be fearful as part of a bigger, destructive agenda lurking out there. Even that is fearful thinking…that lurking agenda; what is it? who’s doing it? what are they doing it for? It turns out that there is very little we can do about any of it other than to quit being fearful and band together to accomplish a thing outside of that thing… We’ve got this!! It is up to us.

Fearless examples in nature; self-seeded broccoli plant.

Year after year I have been trying to get cool season crops to grow in this bolt-inducing desert. Year after year, Brussels sprout and broccoli plants have continued to sow themselves. Some go two seasons and more trying to produce. I am now seeing their value for producing caterpillars for the birds and Buster, the turtle, if not food for me. The white cabbage moths don’t seem to ever leave until it is literally freezing. So be it.

So my declaration here on this post is, from now on I will try ever more diligently to keep my head in gardening mode and bypass fear inducing propaganda.

Lovey dovey doves

Love or fear, what say you?

From now on…let’s choose love. Let’s garden more. Let’s garden without exploiting animals or ruining their habitats. Let’s really and truly love them. Let’s share what we grow with them. From now on, let’s not let those who would have us fear think that we can’t change the world for better.

Success

"To live is to struggle. A successful life is not without ordeals, failures, tragedies, but one during which the person has made an adequate number of effective responses to the constant challenges of his physical and social environment." Rene Dubos - So Human An Animal pg.161 c1968